


a matter of balls

by kaigazing



Series: tumblr prompts [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Athletes, M/M, Minor Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 20:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13255788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaigazing/pseuds/kaigazing
Summary: Baekhyun wants to climb the tree that is Chanyeol Park. Only problem is that Chanyeol’s sexuality is a mystery.





	a matter of balls

**Author's Note:**

> @choco-yeols on tumblr: Chanbaek athlete au? Where baek is the senior one, and he's in love with chanyeol at first sight?
> 
> i kinda followed the prompt, right???

“Why do they make us wait in the boys’ locker room?” Jongdae whines as he tries to breathe as little as possible, lest stale B.O. enter his lungs. “Everyone knows the girls’ smells better.”

 

“This is the smell of real men,” Baekhyun says, proudly puffing up his chest to display the “SM Snakes” logo on his baseball jersey. “You’d know if you didn’t sit behind a computer screen all day.”

 

“First of all: no it isn’t. It’s just proof none of you meatheads know how to use shampoo or deodorant. Also: I sit behind a computer screen publishing the most important information this school has to offer. I can ruin _lives_.”

 

Baekhyun snorts. “Calm down, Mr. High School Sports Column Reporter. You’re not writing for the New York Times.”

 

“I will be, just wait ’til I get out of this hellhole,” Jongdae mumbles, absentmindedly going through the pictures on the (very expensive and school-issued) camera in his hands.

 

Baekhyun rolls his eyes before his attention is stolen by a chorus of shouts and cheers from closer to the entrance. His gaze lands on the boy’s basketball team, who has gathered around unfamiliar face. The boy is tall with broad shoulders and short, fluffy black hair. He’s stupidly handsome, with a sharply sculpted face and round eyes. His basketball jersey exposes his drool-worthy biceps and overall muscular structure.

 

He obnoxiously elbows Jongdae, jostling the camera.

 

“Dude, what the fuck?” Jongdae hisses.

 

“Who’s the guy who just walked in?” Baekhyun asks, nodding his head to the tall boy.

 

“Huh? The guy with the basketball team? Chanyeol Park. He just transferred.”

 

“Why don’t I know about him?”

 

“You would, if you read my column like a good best friend.”

 

Chanyeol smirks at something one of his teammates says and Baekhyun’s stomach clenches.

 

“He into guys?” he asks, lowering his voice.

 

Jongdae immediately bursts into a huge grin. “Holy shit, you think he’s hot.”

 

“ _Shh!_ And how could I not? Look at that face. Look at those _arms._ ”

 

“Down, boy. You’re frothing at the mouth.”

 

“I want to climb him like a tree _._ A muscular, sexy tree.”

 

“ _Baekhyun oh my god.”_

Before Baekhyun can embarrass himself further with his thirst, some student govenment member comes into the locker room to announce that the pep rally has started and that they all need to organize alphabetically by sport.

 

Baekhyun pouts at the realization that he won’t be able to stare at Chanyeol anymore, but then brightens up when he realizes “baseball” and “basketball” are successive in the lineup. He happily abandons Jongdae and huddles with his team, making sure to stand toward the back of the group rather than the center he usually liked to enjoy.

 

He thinks about turning around, flipping his brown fringe to the side, and hitting Chanyeol with his best smirk & bedroom eyes combo. Oh, shit, what if he _isn’t_ into guys? Would Baekhyun seem like a horny freak if he did that? Oh fuck, what if Chanyeol is a homophobic asshole, a typical jock stereotype like from some corny high school movie?

 

Unfortunately, Baekhyun’s second-guessing costs him his chance, and suddenly he’s running into the deafening gym with the rest of the basball team.

 

* * *

 

 

During the span of the entire pep rally, Baekhyun finds no chances to talk to Park Chanyeol. (Read: he couldn’t muster the nerve to approach him.) He even had a conversation opener when the hip-hop team finished their routine and Chanyeol gushed (in his deep and sexy voice) about Yixing Zhang’s dancing abilities, but he couldn’t find it in him to just lean over and go, “I know, right?”

 

At the end of the pep rally, he trudges over to Jongdae with a miserable aura.

 

“You had, like, a bajillion conversation openers presented to you,” Jongdae says as he scrolls through the pictures he took.

 

“I knooooow,” Baekhyun whines as he leans his head on Jongdae’s shoulder. He looks at the camera screen and wrinkles his nose at a picture of him in the middle of an unattractive laugh. “Ew, delete that.”

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I think I’ve found my heading photo.”

 

“ _Jongdae_!” Baekhyun shrieks and frantically tries to grab the camera.

 

Jongdae jerks away, cradling the camera to his chest. “Are you nuts? Are _you_ gonna pay 400 dollars to replace this?”

 

“Delete it!”

 

“Fuck off!”

 

“Mr. Kim, Mr. Byun,” a voice booms from the doors of the gym. “The pep rally is over, go home. I hope to see you two at the football game tonight.”

 

The two shoot up immediately and chorus, “Yes, Principal Lee.”

 

The two scoot past the principal staying civil until they turn the corner toward the senior parking lot, where Baekhyun shoves Jongdae and makes a run for his older brother’s car.

 

“You dick, I can’t run with the camera and you know it!” Jongdae shouts after him.

 

Baekhyun cackles down the lane in response.

 

* * *

 

 Operation Find Out if Chanyeol Park is into Dick starts a week after the pep rally after Baekhyun realizes snooping in on basketball practices doesn’t really help him with anything except increasing his thirst for Chanyeol.

 

(Also the assistant basketball coach caught him looking through the window on his way back from the bathroom and asked Baekhyun what he was doing. After an awkward, spluttered excuse, Baekhyun high-tailed it back to the baseball field with red ears.)

 

“He transferred from Arizona. Phoenix, I think,” Jongdae says.

 

“Ugh, isn’t that a red state?” Baekhyun says, his nose wrinkling. “I can’t date a conservative.”

 

“Gay people and liberals exist in red states, Baekhyun.”

 

“Yeah, whatever. So do I have a chance or not?”

 

“Honestly? No clue. Wendy said he was really kind and funny when she interviewed him last month, but that’s about it.”

 

Baekhyun throws himself onto the grass with loud groan.

 

“There, there,” Jongdae consoles, patting Baekhyun on his back.

 

“I want to climb his tree, Dae,” Baekhyun whimpers into his backpack.

 

“You’ve mentioned. Multiple times.”

 

Baekhyun pouts.

 

“Maybe you can ask around after school? See if any of your friends know anything.”

 

Baekhyun lets out a sigh, throwing the back of his hand over his eyes. “Why must this be so hard? Why can’t there be some universal symbol for gayness?”

 

“Well, one: there are. And two: I really think you missed your calling as a theater kid. Nobody can match how dramatic you are.”

 

* * *

 

Baekhyun starts his investigation on the soccer field next to the baseball field.

 

“Chanyeol Park?” Jongin Kim, star midfielder and school heartthrob even though he’s gayer than Baekhyun, asks after wiping the sweat from his forehead with his jersey. “He’s the new point guard on the basketball team. Just transferred.”

 

Baekhyun lets out a hefty sigh. “I know. Got anything else? Interests? Hobbies? Sexuality?”

 

Jongin furrows his eyebrows. “Basketball and video games, I guess. He hasn’t dated anyone since transferring, so I’ve got no clue on the last one.”

 

“Ugh, you’re no help. I’ll go ask someone else.”

 

“ _Or you could just talk to him_ ,” Jongin mutters under his breath, but Baekhyun is already walking away.

 

* * *

 

The next afternoon finds him at the indoor swimming pool, where the boys swim team is practicing.

 

Sehun Oh sits on the edge of the pool, attention-drawing pink speedo on, goggles around his neck, and black hair matted from a recent dive into the pool.

 

Baekhyun crouches next to him. “Hey. Know anything about Chanyeol Park?”

 

“He’s hot,” Sehun says simply, kicking his legs in the water.

 

“I _know_. I have eyes, Sehun. I meant something more...personal.”

 

“No, but you know what they say about guys with big feet.”

 

“Thanks, Sehun.”

 

* * *

 

Wednesday finds him in the cafeteria where the hip-hop team is set up.

 

“He’s so nice!” Yixing, school sweetheart and captain of the hip hop team, raves, his cute dimple out and piercing Baekhyun’s heart. “He talked to me after the pep rally and told me he thought I looked really cool! He’s a really great basketball player as well. He also helps his mom whenever he can at the family restaurant. I can tell by the way he talked about her that he really loves her. You’d think it’s weird that a Korean family owns an Italian restaurant but his mom makes really good food! It’s called Viva Polo; you should try it some time.”

 

Baekhyun can’t find it in himself to ask the cutie if Chanyeol likes dick or not, feeling like the question is too dirty for Yixing’s pure ears.

 

(In reality, Yixing is probably the most _active_ out of his entire friend group, but the guy is too sweet for any of them to really accept that.)

 

* * *

 

Baekhyun waits patiently as Junmyeon impressively parries with two opponents at the same time, looking as graceful and regal as ever. With an impressive move looking like it was straight out of Zorro, he hits one of his opponents on the top of their mask before stabbing the other in the chest.

 

Junmyeon removes his masks and pushes his sweat-matted hair off his forehead, unintentionally styling his hair into a handsome coiffure. The sweat only works to make his face glow like a god. He gives Baekhyun a bright smile as he walks over, looking like a goddamn prince.

 

“Hello, Baekhyun. Have a sudden interest in fencing?” Junmyeon teases.

 

“What? And fight against you? No way.”

 

Junmyeon giggles. “What can I help you with?”

 

“Chanyeol Park. You know him?”

 

“Oh, the new basketball player, right? Er, not really. All I know is that he goes to the elementary school every Wednesday for that Reading Buddies program.”

 

Holy shit, he reads to little kids? He’s really as nice as everyone says he is. Baekhyun can’t imagine spending an hour reading to seven year olds every week when he has very important matters to attend to. Like baseball and League of Legends.

 

“Anything else? Like if he’s into guys or not?”

 

Junmyeon stifles a laugh. “Someone has a little crush, huh? But no, I don’t know. Sorry.”

 

Baekhyun pouts.

 

* * *

 

The next stop is the gym where the judo team is practicing for the day.

 

“Who?”

 

“Tall and handsome, big ears? Just transferred, plays basketball? Is any of this ringing a bell?”

 

Kyungsoo blinks, the sound of someone being slammed down onto the mats behind him filling the silence. “No.”

 

Baekhyun sighs. “Nevermind, Soo.”

 

* * *

 

Baekhyun shivers, vainly attempting to pull his short-sleeved jersey tighter around his body.

 

“Ch-chanyeol P-p-park?” he stutters.

 

Minseok Kim eyes him in amusement from the ice rink. “What about him?”

 

Baekhyun rushes to the point, unable to deal with the cold. (He’s a Californian, he’s not used to this cold.) “G-gay?”

 

“I barely know the guy, Baek, sorry.” Figures, Minseok is a senior and probably cares little about junior gossip.

 

“Okay, th-thanks anyway.”

 

“Hey, uh, not that I want to keep you here longer than necessary because you’re obviously suffering, but,” Minseok rubs the back of his neck, an awkward movement with the chunky hockey glove, “is Jongdae going to be at the game Sunday? You know, for reporting.”

 

The chattering of his teeth ruins the coyness of his smirk.

 

* * *

 

By the beginning of the next week, Baekhyun is back in the grass whining at Jongdae. “All I’ve figured out is that he’s some huge saint! Like, he loves his mom and tolerates small children.”

 

“Really above and beyond there,” Jongdae deadpans, focusing on his laptop and finishing his article from Minseok’s hockey game.

 

“But no one knows what he’s into! He hasn’t dated anyone since transferring.”

 

“Understandable, considering it’s been like two months since he’s moved here.”

 

“Stop being the voice of reason! It’s annoying,” Baekhyun whines and shoves his head back into his backpack.

 

Jongdae sighs and lets Baekhyun sulk about his absent love life. In between his quest, Baekhyun had continued to spy on the basketball team, this time being caught by actual players who teased him about his sudden interest in their practices coinciding with Chanyeol’s arrival. So, in other words, now the basketball team knew about his dumb crush so Chanyeol probably does, too.

 

Baekhyun lets out a groan and buries deeper into his backpack.

 

A moment later, Jongdae slaps his ass to get his attention.

 

“ _Ow_! What?” Baekhyun hisses, pushing himself up.

 

“5 o’clock.”

 

“What? Dude, it’s 3.”

 

Jongdae sighs and closes his laptop before shoving Baekhyun onto his back.

 

“What the fuck, man?” Baekhyun yells, watching as Jongdae puts his laptop away.

 

“He’s all yours,” Jongdae says to someone else as he gets up and leaves Baekhyun in the grass, defenseless.

 

“Oh, okay,” responds a familiar voice Baekhyun has been craving for two whole weeks now.

 

He immediately rights himself, and sure enough, there stands Chanyeol Park in long-sleeve white shirt and jeans, looking like a whole boyfriend.

 

“Hey,” Chanyeol greets with a kind smile.

 

“Hey,” Baekhyun manages to spit out.

 

“So, you’ve been looking for me?”

 

Baekhyun stays quiet, averting his eyes and gulping. Why is he having so much trouble talking to this guy?

 

He tries to calm his heartbeat when Chanyeol moves to sit next to him.

 

“You know, you can talk to me. I promise I don’t bite. Unless you want me to.”

 

Baekhyun cringes immediately. “Dude, that was super cheesy.”

 

Chanyeol laughs. “Sorry, I get nervous around handsome people.”

 

Holy shit is Chanyeol flirting with him? Baekhyun looks up at him, freezing when he sees Chanyeol’s smile.

 

“Ugh, how’d you figure it out?” he asks.

 

“I didn’t until my teammates started teasing me about it. I caught you peaking in through the window Friday.”

 

Baekhyun groans and puts his face into his hands. He wants to dig himself a hole to lie in when Chanyeol laughs at him.

 

“Hey, my stalker could’ve been worse, I guess. At least you’re cute.”

 

Baekhyun whines. “Oh my god, stop.”

 

Chanyeol chuckles and thankfully gives Baekhyun time to calm himself down.

 

“I heard you like League of Legends, so maybe we can play together sometime? I’m not that amazing, though. I’m much better at Starcraft—“

 

“I love Starcraft,” Baekhyun gushes.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes instantly light up. “Really?”

 

Baekhyun nods, probably too enthusiastically.

 

Chanyeol grins anyway. “Awesome! Then we definitely have to play together then. I play Overwatch, too.”

 

“PC?”

 

“Uh, is there any other way?”

 

“Wow, I love an intellectual.”

 

They laugh in unison and Baekhyun finally feels comfortable talking to Chanyeol about their shared interests.

 

“Give me your number so we can play together,” Baekhyun says after the laughter dies down.

 

Chanyeol scrambles to get his phone out of his back pocket, looking sheepish when he finally hands it to Baekhyun. Baekhyun tries to hide his smile as he puts his number in Chanyeol’s phone under “Baekhyunnie”.

 

He hands Chanyeol his phone back. “I’ll text you after practice and we can set up a date.”

 

Chanyeol grins this time, and he looks like such a huge dork with how many teeth it shows. “Don’t leave me waiting too long.”

 

“I won’t.” He really won’t. Baekhyun’s amazed he’s had enough self-control to not pull out his phone and text Chanyeol immediately.

 

“See you soon?” Chanyeol says as he stands up.

 

Baekhyun soon follows, pulling on his backpack and picking up his clay-crusted duffle. Jeez, their height difference was so obvious up close, with Baekhyun having to look up at Chanyeol. “Yeah,” he breathes.

 

“Good luck at your practice,” Chanyeol says with a wave as he walks toward the gym.

 

“You too.” Baekhyun gives him a smile and a wave.

 

When he’s sure Chanyeol’s far enough away, he lets out a quiet “Yes!” before making his way to the baseball field. If his teammates notice the extra skip in his step, they don’t say a word.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i never thought id do prompts but here i am!! this was def fun to write, i love dramatic baek. also this is my first baekyeol fic??? even though theyre my second otp???? incredible.


End file.
